Buhari is using govt funds for campaigns - Atiku alleges
- PDP's presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has accused President Muhammadu Buhari of using government funds for his campaigns
- Atiku alleged that Buhari and the APC's actions were contrary to the provision of the Electoral Act 2010 as amended
- The former vice president said the use of state videos released by the federal ministry of information and culture to showcase Buhari is illegal under the Electoral law
Former vice president and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has accused President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) of violating the constitution and the Electoral Act 2010, by allegedly deploying state resources and apparatuses for the 2019 presidential campaign.
The Punch reports that Atiku, in a statement on Thursday, January 10, by his media adviser, Paul Ibe, said the alleged action was contrary to the claims of Buhari and the APC of not abusing state resources.
Legit.ng gathered that he said the national chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, had in December 2018 warned incumbent office holders against using state resources for campaigns, or deploying same against opponents.
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Atiku, however, noted that the Buhari administration and the APC had allegedly been illegally using state resources to their advantages for the election.
He said: “We wish to remind President Buhari and the APC that the use of state videos released by the federal ministry of information and culture is illegal under the Electoral Act 2010 as amended.
“The media is awash with advertisements with the hashtag #PMBDIDIT and signed by the federal ministry of information and culture and referencing so-called achievements of the APC administration in the states of Abia, Kwara, Lagos, Ebonyi, Delta and Kano, among others.
"These are without doubt 2019 presidential campaign materials produced by the ministry of information and culture using state resources and apparatuses to benefit President Buhari.”
The PDP candidate demanded that INEC should issue a ‘cease and desist order’ to the ministry of information and culture and the broadcast channels running the materials.
Atiku said: “We also insist that INEC register the funds spent on the materials as part of the APC’s total N1bn campaign spend limit.
“INEC is alert to this danger and had warned the ruling party to refrain from such conduct. Now that Buhari and the party have clearly flouted the law, we urge that INEC sanctions them accordingly.”
Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday, January 10, declared that he would be remembered as the president who never opened up the nation’s treasury for the purpose of engaging in money politics ahead of elections.
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The president vowed that he would like to leave behind a clean-up campaign in which public funds are not utilized by individuals in the process of seeking re-election.
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Source: Legit.ng
